Elizabeth the Last

BaronSmoggie said:
Because have you seen who we vote into government? Now you want to give the same people the chance to elect a ceremonial head.

No thanks.
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Well by that logic we should not be allowed to vote for anyone or anything, then should we?

The 'well you'd end up with President Blair if we voted on it' argument is only slightly less facile than the 'they bring in loads of tourists' argument.

Unelected heads of state, unelected governments, unelected second chambers are obscene except to authoritarians and worse.
 
The bum faced folk manage perfectly well without a monarchy. And we don't really have a democracy either. I'm the clan leader and I make all of the decisions but that's just because the rest of them are scared of me. I'm getting older though and I can tell that some of the younger bum faced lads have got their eye on replacing me eventually. But they'd have to defeat me in combat to do that and none of them have dared to attempt that yet.
 
ThePrisoner said:
Well by that logic we should not be allowed to vote for anyone or anything, then should we?

The 'well you'd end up with President Blair if we voted on it' argument is only slightly less facile than the 'they bring in loads of tourists' argument.

Unelected heads of state, unelected governments, unelected second chambers are obscene except to authoritarians and worse.
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Well no. The royal family are ceremonial and don't really wield any power like the government.
 
ThePrisoner said:
Really? You really believe that?
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I believe they have some power, but not to the extent the government do. I'd rather we focus on that shower rather than a largely ceremonial position. I'm generally in favour of the monarchy though, which may colour my opinion somewhat.
 
BaronSmoggie said:
Well no. The royal family are ceremonial and don't really wield any power like the government.
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of course they do, the revelations about laws they had interfered in, teh black spider letters, would say different. That's before you get to the power and influence they have from the being part of the institution, the wealth we give them, and the power from the wealth and assets they have accumulated through theft.
 
Littlejimmy said:
I have no personal truck with Liz. I can even admire or at least respect her for being there and heading up an institution and country which has changed massively in her 70 years on the throne. She hasn't always been beyond reproach, of course. The way she dealt with Prince Andrew and Diana wasn't really clever. Either way, the fact is the Royal Family is a symbol of inherited and unmerited privilege, an archaic system which is being preserved while people struggle to keep themselves fed and warm. We can keep the bank holidays (given to us thanks to Trade Unions), we can still have pubs named with Kings' and Queens' appendages, and we can still have tourists coming to see the buildings and statues from our rich history. It's not like they're going to see the Queen in person, is it? France manages it fine.
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History is not just about kings and queens anyway. That's only part of it. It's much more interesting to go somewhere like Beamish, where you get an idea of how ordinary people actually lived, than it is to spend an afternoon wandering around some aristocrat's house and garden.
 
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